Canucks grind out 2-1 win over Jets

Vancouver Canucks’ goalie Roberto Luongo (left) makes a save against Winnipeg Jets ' James Wright (right) during the first period of NHL hockey at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. on Sunday December 22, 2013. (Carmine Marinelli/QMI Agency)

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Ken Wiebe, QMI Agency

The Winnipeg Jets have taken the long walk down this dark alley before and had their lunch money stolen once again.

For much of the contest on Sunday night at Rogers Arena, the Jets played the type of determined, gutsy game required to hang tough with a Western Conference powerhouse like the Vancouver Canucks, a club that entered the contest on an 8-1-1 run.

And for much of the contest, the Jets managed to keep the quality chances by their opponent to a minimum, until 10:23 of the third period when Zack Kassian found Chris Tanev alone in the slot and the emerging blue-liner rifled a shot past Ondrej Pavelec.

“Tough game,” said Pavelec. “It’s tough to play against them but we were there, we were in the game. But we weren’t good enough to win the game.

“Every loss is frustrating, especially because we’ve lost so many games in the third period.”

With the loss, the Jets continued their up-and-down first half and slipped to 16-17-5.